Ferrari may be stripped of first and second places in today's German grand prix after being found guilty of a breach of the rules regarding team orders. They were called before the stewards here to explain the circumstances surrounding the moment Fernando Alonso took the lead from his team-mate, Felipe Massa, on the 48th lap and have been fined $100,000 (£64,700) and had the matter referred to the World Motorsport Council.

A date for the council's next meeting has not been set but it has the power to disqualify the Ferraris and award victory to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who finished third. Alonso, above right, went on to take the chequered flag after passing Massa in a fashion the stewards decided contravened FIA regulations which state: "Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited."

Ferrari were also charged with a breach of article 151c of the FIA International Sporting Code. That relates to "any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally".

Ferrari denied wrongdoing but said tonight that they would not appeal against the stewards' decision. "We are confident that the world council will know how to evaluate the overall facts correctly," said Stefano Domenicali, the head of Ferrari's team.

"We gave information to Felipe about the situation. We have already seen in the past that certain situations did not provide the best result to the team.

"So that was the information we gave and we left it to the driver to understand and take notice of it in order to make sure the team, in terms of results, gets the best."

However, that view was not shared by former team boss Eddie Jordan, now a pundit for the BBC. "It was unlawful and was theft. They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers. Ferrari should be ashamed. This was a team order. For me, it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded," he said. It was Ferrari's blatant manipulation of the result of the 2002 Austrian grand prix that led to the ban on team orders. Massa's allowing of Alonso to pass him today was not as obvious as when Rubens Barrichello moved aside yards from the finish line to allow Michael Schumacher through to win eight years ago, but doubts about the validity of the manoeuvre were raised by a radio communication between Massa and his race engineer, Rob Smedley.

On the 47th lap of a grand prix that Massa had led from the start Smedley radioed his driver saying: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?" The following lap the Brazilian slowed as they exited the hairpin and Alonso drove past to take a lead he was not to lose. Smedley was then heard to say to Massa: "Good lad. Just stick with it now, sorry." Later another message from Smedley to Massa was aired as he thanked the 29-year-old for being "magnanimous".

The controversy marred a dramatic return to form by Ferrari and if the result stands Alonso will be right back in the thick of the fight for the world title, 34 points behind the championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth. Pressed afterwards on the matter Massa said: "I don't need to say anything about that. He passed me." Asked whether it was his decision to let his team-mate by Massa replied: "Definitely."

The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, called the incident "the clearest team order I've ever seen". Horner said that Red Bull would never act in a similar manner. "No, we let our drivers race," he said. "Massa's still in this championship, or maybe he's signed a contract that says he's a No2 driver, but I think that it's wrong for the sport. The drivers should've been allowed to race. Massa did the better job. He was in the lead."

Hamilton and Jenson Button finished fourth and fifth positions after a below par weekend for the McLaren team, but that could yet be second and third should the WMSC take the ultimate sanction when they meet and disqualify Alonso and Massa.